Posted Mar. 25, 2014, 8:52 am

Tim Broughton / Mirror Contributor

Santa Monica police arrested a woman on probation on Friday, March 14 for stealing an iPhone and a purse that was left behind at a coffee shop.

Officers of the Santa Monica Police Department responded to a report of a theft in the area of Ocean Avenue and Bicknell Street at 3:25 pm on this day.

Upon arrival the officers spoke with the female victim who told them that she had been enjoying coffee on the Third Street Promenade in an establishment that specializes in serving coffee style beverages.

However, when she had left she had inadvertently left her purse and phone behind.

She told officers she had returned a short time later to find that her phone and purse were both missing.

She told the officers that she had immediately hastened to The Apple Store on Third Street Promenade where the staff there had utilized the tracking system installed on her iPhone and discovered that it was in the area of Ocean Avenue and Strand Street.

Another officer in that area was alerted and recognized a suspect who was on probation.

This officer noticed this female suspect had a tan purse and iPhone in her possession so he detained her.

The police took the victim to that location where she identified her possessions.

The woman, whose age and place of residency were not available at time of going to press, was arrested and charged with theft and violation of probation.

Editor’s Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled “Alert Police Blotter” (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of The Mirror’s coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.